Eizabeth Taylor's diamond sells for $8.8 mn

A major South Korean retail group said Thursday it was the buyer of a 33 carat diamond once owned by Hollywood star Elizabeth Taylor that was auctioned for more than $8.8 million in New York this week.

A major South Korean retail group said Thursday it was the buyer of a 33 carat diamond once owned by Hollywood star Elizabeth Taylor that was auctioned for more than $8.8 million in New York this week.

A spokesman for E-Land said the group would put the diamond, set in a ring, on display at its E-World theme park in the southeastern city of Daegu, but gave no further details.

E-Land said in a statement the rectangular white diamond was known to have been Taylor's favourite and was a gift from her fifth husband, actor Richard Burton, in 1968. He paid $300,000 for it.

It was part of her jewellery and fashion collection sold off by Christie's after she died in March aged 79, with the auctioneers describing it as the greatest jewellery collection to be offered in a century.

Tuesday's jewellery sale fetched a record $116 million, including $11.84 million paid for a huge pearl known as La Peregrina.